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Never meet trouble half-way.
John Ray (1627-1705); British naturalist.
- (V) New Internet threats: jokes -
Oxygen3 24h-365d, by Panda Software (http://www.pandasoftware.com)
Madrid, January 21, 2004 - This fifth edition of Oxygen3 24h-365d looking at
Internet threats will deal with jokes. Although they are not damaging in
themselves, they can nevertheless cause problems to computer users and as
such are categorized as malware(*).
Jokes are small programs -not viruses- designed to make users think their
computers have been infected by a virus. They don't cause direct damage to
PCs -such as data loss, spamming, etc.- but, they can have indirect
detrimental effects on users, as the following example demonstrates.
There is a well-known joke that, when it is run, displays a screen that
shows the content of the files stored on the hard disk of the computer.
Then, a message like the following is displayed: 'The hard disk will be
formatted, do you want to continue? Y/N'. Imagine a user in a state of panic
frantically pressing the 'N' key. It makes no difference which key the user
presses, a new window is displayed that indicates that the C: drive is being
formatted, and all the user can do is sit there and watch as the files on
the hard disk disappear.
Of course, this is not actually happening, but the user doesn't necessarily
know this. Users who have been tricked by the one of these jokes before will
realize that their data is safe and will not react, but what about users
that don't know that it is a joke and believe that it is actually happening?
In this case, they could quickly switch off their computer and go off in
search of help. If nobody is around to help, they could even run off to the
nearest computer repair service. The result: possible loss of data or system
configuration as a consequence of shutting down the computer incorrectly, or
a bill to pay... and all for nothing. Even if this happens in a company, the
user would probably contact the systems department and insist they send
someone straight away. And it is even possible that the user's colleagues
will switch off their computers or disconnect them from the network to
prevent the same from happening to them.
The safest option is not to open unsolicited e-mail messages, as this is
usually how jokes reach computers. If you know that you have received a
joke, don't forward it to other users. However, it is also advisable to
install an effective, updated antivirus that incorporates new jokes in the
virus signature file as they appear, like Platinum Internet Security, which
also includes protection systems against other types of malware, such as
spam, dialers, spyware, etc.
More information about Platimum Internet Security at:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/platinum_is/
(*) Malware: any programs, documents or messages that can have detrimental
effects on computers.
------------------------------------------------------------
The 5 viruses most frequently detected by Panda ActiveScan, Panda Software's
free online scanner: 1)Downloader.L; 2)Bugbear.B; 3)Parite.B; 4)Bagle.B;
5)Klez.I.
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